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Opaline glass makes a beautiful background

Lifestyle Columns

amber, emerald, ruby: Decorative glass is often made to capture the vivid color and intense sparkle of gemstones. It isn’t limited to transparent stones, either. A type of opaque matte glass called opal glass or opaline became popular in Europe in the mid-19th century. Inspired by Venetian lattimo (milk glass) made since the 1500s and English Bristol glass of the 1700s, opal glass is a semi-opaque glass, usually white or a light color, with a slight iridescent sheen. Decorators found that it made a beautiful background for gilt or enamel designs, like this blue opaline vase that sold ...

Spooky October thrills continue in area

Communities

While harvest, fall foliage and festivals fill up the month of October, one constant in the New Ulm and Sleepy Eye areas this time of year are the dedicated individuals bringing the Halloween spirit to life. With tricks, treats and things that makes the hair on one’s arms stand up, here are ...

Pumpkin spice: A joke today, used for centuries

Lifestyle Columns

For the past few years, the arrival of fall has meant two things: pumpkin spice in everything and jokes about pumpkin spice in everything. The flavor may have exploded in popularity during the last decade or so, but it’s been around much longer than that. This tin by the Frank Tea and Spice Co., which sold for $153 at Morford’s Antique Advertising Auctions (AntiqueAdvertising.com), is proof. The Frank Tea & Spice Company, probably best known as the inventor of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, was founded in Cincinnati in 1896 by salesman Jacob Frank and his brothers Emil and Charles. By ...

New Ulm Tire guys retire

Business Story

After decades in the tire and vehicle repair business, New Ulm Tire owners John and Jim Johnson are retiring. Their last day of business on North Broadway is Friday, Oct. 25. The Johnsons have been around tires for a long time. John and Jim’s father Norm earned a teaching degree in ...

National Friends of the Library Week

Lifestyle Columns

October 20-26, 2024 is National Friends of Libraries Week. It is a chance for libraries throughout the United States to recognize the contributions of their Friends of Libraries groups to their communities. New Ulm Public Library is grateful to have an active group of library Friends who support our collections, programming, newsletters, and more through their efforts and donations of both materials and funding. The Friends of the New Ulm Public Library is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) community organization that believes in the importance of the library and its services for people ...

Fall

Lifestyle Columns

Fall has just begun. On Sunday, September 22, the autumnal equinox occured. The word “equinox” comes from the Latin words “aequus” meaning “equal” and “nox” which means “night”. So “equal night,” simply put, is the time when daylight hours are roughly the same length as nighttime. After the autumnal equinox the daylight hours become shorter and the nighttime hours lengthen. This all ends with the winter solstice when daylight hours lengthen and nighttime hours shorten. Most of us don’t mark the passing of the season with such a scientific explanation. We like ...